Royal Young
Publicist (they/them)
Royal Young is an artist, journalist, poet, and author of the cult classic memoir Fame Shark.
Since Die Jim Crow’s humble beginnings in 2013, Young has been a strong supporter and witness to the label’s evolution. As our Founder Fury Young’s older sibling, they saw the origins of the Die Jim Crow EP and their brother’s passion for lifting up prison-impacted musicians. They also began to expand their worldview.
Though not an activist by training, Royal, like their brother, was raised in New York’s Lower East Side of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. They saw their community impacted by discriminatory policies and the failed war on drugs. However, it was also full of racial diversity, thriving creativity and mentors.
As a white-Sephardic, non-binary Jew, who often felt like an outsider, Young naturally gravitated towards changing the world through creative expression. Growing up with a diverse mixed-race and queer friend group, Young saw over half of their childhood friends fall victim to suicides, drug overdoses, mental institutions and incarceration.
Listening to the music of currently and formerly incarcerated DJC artists inspired Young to become more engaged. While working as an artist and as a journalist for Interview Magazine and the New York Post, Young continued to be involved in DJC causes. Over the years, they developed personal relationships with early DJC collaborators such as Apostle Heloise, Valerie Seeley and prison music pioneer Maxwell Melvins.
In 2018, Young used their media-savvy to help DJC get their first major placement in Rolling Stone. The following year, they enlisted the public support of Roxane Gay, Gloria Steinem, and Marky Ramone, as well as media placements, during the burgeoning label’s Kickstarter campaign. In part due to this visibility, Young helped DJC raise over $50K from 335 backers around the world.
Young officially came on as DJC’s publicist after this historic milestone. They started full-force, garnering features for the release of BL Shirelle's critically-acclaimed label debut album Assata Troi in Philadelphia Inquirer, WNYC’s The Takeaway, Oxygen and Passion of the Weiss, among many others.
Since then, Young has helped DJC's music and artists become an international movement, with coverage in some of the leading publications in the world, including Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, BBC, Pitchfork, Colorado Public Radio, The Atlantic, Grammys.com, and FLOOD Magazine, among many others.
Young works intimately with our artists both inside and outside prison, providing media training, setting up interviews and making sure that our artists feel comfortable, safe, and have a positive experience of sharing their powerful music and personal stories. All official DJC bios are crafted in our artists' own words with Young’s guidance.
Young interfaces with editors and journalists to ensure our prison-impacted artists are covered with the empathy, nuance and humanity they deserve.